When a lay person is seeking advice or explanations concerning a professional discipline, such as law or medicine, or regarding documents relating to that discipline, the time and expense involved in making an appointment with a qualified professional can be an inhibiting factor. Conversely, professionals are often reluctant to give informal advice because of potential liability issues involving the content of the communications, possible conflicts-of-interest and confidentiality.
While various websites offer information and/or respond to questions pertaining to professional expertise, the ability of the inquirer to interact in real time with a qualified professional is absent or very limited. Ethical constraints can also make it difficult for professionals to initiate direct communications with members of the public with whom they have had no previous relationship.
This state of affairs works to the disadvantage of both inquiring lay people and potentially helpful professionals. The former are deprived of information vital to their personal and financial affairs, and the latter lose the opportunity to interact with potential clients or patients.
The present invention responds to this dilemma by providing an integrated computerized system using downloadable and web-based application software (“Apps”) to initiate, manage and track exchanges of information and documents between lay users, including both individual and business enterprises, and qualified professionals, as well as between and among individual and enterprise users themselves. The features of the Apps, as described further herein, assure that all such interactions proceed in accordance with all applicable legal and ethical requirements for obtaining users' informed consent and protecting users' confidential information. Compliance with such requirements is documented by an audit trail compiled by the Apps and stored in a system database for the protection of both participating users and professionals, so that impediments to the flow of information and guidance on professional topics are minimized.